The franchisee program should continue to draw new potential owners due to the growth and strength of the Panera brand.

Geographic growth opportunities are also strong. The company has many unsaturated markets. If the company can achieve St. Louis-level saturation (1 store per 67,000 people) in all major markets, there is room for strong domestic growth for many years to come. The firm will need to begin expanding into the remaining major markets, however, in order to solidify its national presence. The New York City area, the southwest, the Pacific Northwest, much of Texas, South Florida and Canada all represent large underserved territories. Panera should begin to establish a presence in most of these markets, the possible exception being Canada due to the added difficulty of operating internationally.

Another issue going forward for Panera Bread is with regards to smoothing out its sales over the course of the day. The...
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